Deja Vu Or, X Men vs Groundhog Day
by Emlin
Summary: Title says it all really. Next part in the saga, sorry for keeping you all waiting! Something wierd is happening, I think you can gather what it is from the title. chapter ten is done! Don't forget to R & R!
1. In which, oh look, there's a disclaimer

The Obligatory Disclaimer: I am a poor Australian uni student. I own nothing, except Emma. Please don't steal her, I would really like to keep her around. Please also don't sue me. It would be a waste of time. I have no money.  
  
This is part four in my series... Maybe I should think up a title for it. Any suggestions? So yeah, this may not make a lot of sense if you haven't read the others, but hopefully it should make at least a little sense on its own. Unlike that last sentence.  
  
telepathy  
  
*word emphasis*  
  
//thoughts//  
  
**flashback or similar type of thing**  
  
Set after "a shadowed mind," so in series three, which I haven't seen any of so I'm just making it up as I go along. Deal with it. 


	2. In which there's a Snow Day

5:00 AM  
  
Emma woke, for no apparent reason. She squinted at her alarm clock, groaned and went back to sleep.  
  
6:03 AM  
  
Her alarm clock was painfully bright in Emma's dark room. She squinted at it and wondered why she'd woken up. Her alarm wasn't set to go off for another seven minutes. Sighing, she reached out and turned it off.  
  
She sighed again and went to have a shower. Training started in half an hour.  
  
Emma didn't have to get up so early. She *could* have a later training session while the kids were at school, but that would involve being alone with Logan. Not something she wanted to do. //And besides... I have to *drive* them this morning.//  
  
Driving a mini-van full of teenagers to school, much less mutant teenagers, was her idea of hell. But this week was her turn, and Storm deserved the break. As she was getting into her uniform, Emma looked outside.  
  
"Oh great."  
  
It had snowed overnight. It had snowed *heavily* overnight. She turned her alarm clock onto the radio and listened for a while. Snow Day.  
  
She didn't know which was worse. Driving a bunch of teens to school or having them run around the house all day.  
  
The session in the danger room left Emma sore and in need of another shower. Afterwards, dressed in jeans and a sweater, she made her way down to the kitchen for her morning fix of caffeine. She flicked on the television as she walked to the machine, praising the person who invented the timer on said machines.  
  
She held the cup and let the warmth soothe her aching hands. Due to the fact that her power was concentrated in her hands, long periods of using her ability caused her some muscular ache.  
  
Emma sat and looked up at the screen. The newscaster was reading out the weather, further confirming that fact that it was a Snow Day. When she finished, the screen changed to show a mountainside, where it looked like a landslide had recently occurred. The caption read, "Buchanan County, Virginia."  
  
She listened for a while. The landslide had trapped approximately yen miners inside the mine. The authorities didn't know whether they were alive or dead, but they couldn't get in to check. The mine was far too unstable.  
  
Emma heard the whirr or her uncle's approach.  
  
"Charles, did you see this?"  
  
"Yes, I'm assembling a team. We have to go and help them." 


	3. In which we see the twist, Or do we?

Emma had managed to consume the rest of her coffee, but she hadn't had time for anything more substantial, which she regretted. She hoped it wouldn't grumble too loudly as she sat strapped into the Blackbird.  
  
Logan, Jean, Scott, Kitty, Evan and Kurt were there as well. Emma had relinquished her age - given right to the co-pilot seat to Scott. Even that was too close to Logan. //And besides that, I can't fly this thing.//  
  
Buchanan Country was full of trees and grass. It was easy to find a place to land the Blackbird. They had decided to enter an abandoned coal shaft that ran near to the trapped miners and break through. Scott handed out torches and communicators and he took the lead, followed by Jean, Emma, Kitty, Kurt and Evan. Logan brought up the rear.  
  
It was cool inside the coal mine, and became more so as they descended. The air grew thicker and damper.  
  
Scott stopped, examining the plans he held. "It should be here. Shadowcat, go through and have a look."  
  
Emma couldn't help but roll her eyes at how corny the exchange sounded. The girl nodded in the gloom and walked through the wall. Her voice cracked over the communicator. "Yeah, we found 'em all right."  
  
"Good, get them away from the wall." He stepped back and turned to Jean. "Try to hold up as much of it as you can, the rest of us will get them out."  
  
Then he unleashed his optic blast at the rock, blowing it away. Emma shielded her eyes from the bright beam and the flying rock shards. One sharp fragment nicked the skin on her forehead, making a small cut. When Scott stopped, a round hole had been carved into the next tunnel. He took a step forward and the rest followed.  
  
There were fourteen men in the tunnel, three badly injured, whom Kurt teleported to the surface. As they were helping the last few out, the ground lurched beneath them. Emma stumbled, already burdened by the burly mean that was leaning on her for support.  
  
Rocks began to tumble to the ground.  
  
Emma made quickly for the exit, followed by the last two men, as Jean cried out, "I can't hold it!"  
  
"Jean, come on!" Scott was ahead of Emma, making for the exit as quickly as she was.  
  
"But - " Emma's protest was cut off. There were still more people in the tunnel. As they came into the light, there was a great boom and the entrance closed behind them. Some one - probably Kurt - had brought an ambulance around. Emma left the man in their hands and stared at the entrance.  
  
Jean looked at her. They were both numb. The two men behind them hadn't come out.  
  
"Hey, are you guys all right?" Kitty approached them, concern in her eyes.  
  
"There were two others behind us." Emma sounded as tired as she felt.  
  
"They didn't..." Jean was likewise affected.  
  
**************************  
  
5:00 AM  
  
Emma woke, for no apparent reason. She squinted at her alarm clock, groaned and went back to sleep. 


	4. In which there's the second verse, much ...

6:03 AM  
  
Her alarm clock was painfully bright in Emma's dark room. She squinted at it and wondered why she'd woken up. Her alarm wasn't set to go off for another seven minutes. Sighing, she reached out and turned it off.  
  
She sighed again and went to have a shower. Training started in half an hour.  
  
As she was getting into her uniform, Emma looked outside.  
  
"Oh great."  
  
It had snowed overnight. It had snowed *heavily* overnight. She turned her alarm clock onto the radio and listened for a while. Snow Day.  
  
She stopped. "Whoa, Deja Vu..." Then she shrugged and left her room, heading down to the danger room. Since she did the same thing most mornings, she could easily dismiss the first sense that she'd done this before. But the training session was a different case.  
  
Each simulation was different, with a large list of variables, so that even if the same program were to be run, the outcome wouldn't be the same. The sophisticated system monitored the human movements and adapted to them.  
  
Emma couldn't spare the energy it would take to raise her hand and wipe the sweat away from her forehead. She was running as fast as she could, swerving to avoid some obstacles and blasting the others she couldn't avoid.  
  
She didn't know how, but every aspect of the session was familiar to her.  
  
Later, after another shower, Emma wandered into the kitchen for her morning coffee. She warmed her hands on the cup, frowning slightly. As part of her routine, she turned on the television and listened with half an ear. A phrase caught her attention. "...here in Buchanan County, Virginia, tragedy has struck..."  
  
Emma quickly looked at the television, and heard the whirr of her Uncle's wheelchair. She looked at him as he entered the kitchen.  
  
"Charles - "  
  
"Yes, that's what I came about, I'm sending a team out to help. Be in the hanger in five minutes."  
  
Emma shook her head. "That's not what I - " But he was already gone.  
  
*************  
  
"I've done this before."  
  
They'd landed the jet and Scott had handed out communicators and torches. He looked at her. Emma was staring at the torch in her hand.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I've done this before. This is all... I remember doing it before."  
  
"Maybe you had a dream or something. We don't have time to waste out here though."  
  
Emma nodded and they proceeded to enter the dark shaft. She was gripped by a deep sense of foreboding.  
  
Some way down the mine, Scott called them to a halt. He looked at the plans he held. "It should be here. Shadowcat, go through and have a look."  
  
Kitty walked through the wall. Soon after, her voice cracked over the communicator. "Yeah, we found 'em all right."  
  
"Good, get them away from the wall." He stepped back and turned to Jean. "Try to hold up as much of it as you can, the rest of us will get them out."  
  
Then he unleashed his optic blast at the rock, blowing it away. Emma shielded her eyes from the bright beam and the flying rock shards. One sharp fragment nicked the skin on her forehead, making a small cut. She clapped a hand to it, somehow knowing that she had received it before.  
  
Scott took a step forward through the hole he had carved and the rest followed.  
  
There were fourteen men in the tunnel, three badly injured, whom Kurt teleported to the surface. As they were helping the last few out, the ground lurched beneath them. Emma stumbled, already burdened by the burly mean that was leaning on her for support. The feeling jumped up, even stronger. Something was wrong, something very bad was going to happen, and it was going to happen right now.  
  
Rocks began to tumble to the ground.  
  
Emma made quickly for the exit, followed by the last two men, as Jean cried out, "I can't hold it!"  
  
"Jean, come on!" Scott was ahead of Emma, making for the exit as quickly as she was.  
  
"But - " Emma's protest was cut off. There were still more people in the tunnel. As they came into the light, there was a great boom and the entrance closed behind them. Some one - probably Kurt - had brought an ambulance around. Emma left the man in their hands and stared at the entrance.  
  
Jean looked at her. They were both numb. The two men behind them hadn't come out.  
  
"Hey, are you guys all right?" Kitty approached them, concern in her eyes.  
  
"There were two others behind us." Emma sounded as tired as she felt.  
  
"They didn't..." Jean was likewise affected.  
  
**************************  
  
5:00 AM  
  
Emma woke, for no apparent reason. She squinted at her alarm clock, groaned and went back to sleep. 


	5. In which there's death

A/N: Just thought I'd say a quick thanks to my lone reviewer, Zhaneel... And let's hope she starts a trend, or it could take me a long while to finish this fic. Reviews = speed in typing. =]  
  
*********  
  
6:03 AM  
  
Her alarm clock was painfully bright in Emma's dark room. She squinted at it and wondered why she'd woken up. Her alarm wasn't set to go off for another seven minutes. Sighing, she reached out and turned it off.  
  
She sighed again and went to have a shower. Training started in half an hour.  
  
As she was getting into her uniform, Emma looked outside.  
  
"Oh great."  
  
It had snowed overnight. It had snowed *heavily* overnight. She turned her alarm clock onto the radio and listened for a while. Snow Day.  
  
She stopped. "Whoa, Deja Vu..." Then she shrugged and left her room, heading down to the danger room. Since she did the same thing most mornings, she could easily dismiss the first sense that she'd done this before. But the training session was a vastly different case.  
  
Emma couldn't spare the energy it would take to raise her hand and wipe the sweat away from her forehead. She was running as fast as she could, swerving to avoid most of the obstacles and blasting the few she couldn't avoid.  
  
She didn't know how, but it was like the *knew* what was coming.  
  
Later, after another shower, Emma wandered into the kitchen for her morning coffee. She warmed her hands on the cup, frowning slightly. As part of her routine, she turned on the television and listened with half an ear. A phrase caught her attention. "...here in Buchanan County, Virginia, tragedy has struck..."  
  
Emma quickly looked at the television, and heard the whirr of her Uncle's wheelchair. She looked at him as he entered the kitchen.  
  
"Charles, I've done this before." Emma blurted out quickly before he had a chance to say anything.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"This, I've done this day before, it's all really familiar. Like I've lived it before. But that's not possible, is it?"  
  
He made his 'pondering face.' "Well I suppose there is a remote chance that your psionic powers could have developed, but it's not very likely."  
  
"I'll second that." Emma's psionic powers were extremely weak. She could only create simple illusions in weak minds, and even then it was a great drain on her energy.  
  
Then she frowned. "Wait, there's something I'm supposed to be doing."  
  
"Oh, yes, a mine has collapsed in - "  
  
"Buchanan County." Emma finished his sentence, her eyes a little unfocused.  
  
*************  
  
They'd landed the jet and Scott had handed out communicators and torches. Emma couldn't shake the deep sense of foreboding that had settled in her stomach like a lump of lead. Something was wrong, she had to do something, but she couldn't remember what it was. She followed the rest of the team down into the mine shaft, keeping well clear of Logan.  
  
Some way down the mine, Scott called them to a halt. He looked at the plans he held. "It should be here. Shadowcat, go through and have a look."  
  
Kitty walked through the wall. Soon after, her voice cracked over the communicator. "Yeah, we found 'em all right."  
  
"Good, get them away from the wall." He stepped back and turned to Jean. "Try to hold up as much of it as you can, the rest of us will get them out."  
  
"Wait, stop!" Emma cried out.  
  
The X-men looked at her.  
  
"What is it?" Jean looked concerned.  
  
"Uh. Nothing, sorry." Emma felt completely helpless, knowing that there was something she had to do, something important, but not knowing what it was.  
  
"Are you okay?" Kurt's eyes gleamed at her in the dark.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Blast away, Cyclops."  
  
Scott unleashed his optic blast at the rock, blowing it away. Emma shielded her eyes from the bright beam and the flying rock shards. One sharp fragment nicked the skin on her forehead, making a small cut. She clapped a hand to it, knowing that she had received it before.  
  
She stared at the dark shine of the blood on her fingertips.  
  
Scott took a step forward through the hole he had carved and the rest followed.  
  
There were fourteen men in the tunnel, three badly injured, whom Kurt teleported to the surface. Emma helped a man to his feet and made for the entrance, followed by two others who could walk. Then she stopped and handed the man over to his friends.  
  
"Go, quickly." No sooner than she had spoken, the ground shook beneath them. Emma stumbled out of the tunnel to where Jean was. "We have to hold it!"  
  
Rocks began to tumble to the ground.  
  
Jean looked at her, shaking her head. "I can't hold it!"  
  
"You have to, or they'll die!"  
  
"Jean, Emma, come on!" Scott called down the tunnel.  
  
Jean started to run and Emma went after her. She grabbed the girl's arm. They were meters from the exit. "You have to try, or they'll die! Trust me!" She shouted over the rumbling of rock. She saw Jean's brow crease as the girl bent her mind to the task. The rocks around them started to fall less, and slower.  
  
The last three miners were slow, hampered by injury. Emma hurried them on as much as she could. When they finally made it to the surface, she turned around for Jean.  
  
There was a great boom and the entrance closed behind her.  
  
Emma couldn't breathe. Her mouth was open, but she couldn't breathe.  
  
**************************  
  
5:00 AM  
  
Emma woke, for no apparent reason. She squinted at her alarm clock, groaned and went back to sleep. 


	6. In which stuff changes a little, much to...

A/N: Sorry peeps, this fic is gonna take a little longer than I expected. A certain parent decided that he would 'clean up' some of the 'junk' on the computer, so deleted a whole bunch of my word files. And I had a nice long chapter too. Ah well. I apologise for the short chapter, I'll try and get the rest rewritten quickly.  
  
Zhaneel : Yeah, I apologise for the monotony. But it's kinda necessary. Don't worry, this chapter's better.  
  
***************  
  
6:03 AM  
  
Her alarm clock was painfully bright in Emma's dark room. She squinted at it and wondered why she'd woken up. Her alarm wasn't set to go off for another seven minutes. Sighing, she reached out and turned it off.  
  
Then she sat up. She'd had a dream. A really weird one, where she knew what was going to happen, and Jean -  
  
Jean had died, and it had been her fault.  
  
Emma felt oddly heavy with guilt.  
  
She showered. Afterwards, she wiped the condensation off the mirror in order to view the cut on her forehead. But there wasn't one. Emma rubbed her fingers over the unbroken skin. "Maybe I only dreamt it... Wow, that was a vivid dream."  
  
She could remember the stinging pain very clearly. Shrugging it off, Emma went back to her room to get ready for training. She glanced out the window. "Oh great."  
  
The snow lay thickly on the ground. Emma turned on the radio to hear words that bring joy to every teenager. "Snow Day."  
  
Then she stopped. That was exactly how her dream had begun. Suddenly all of the muscles in her legs gave out and she sat down heavily on the floor. Emma knew what was happening.  
  
She was reliving the day. The same day. At least twice before that she could remember, but who knew how many more times?  
  
Still wearing her uniform, Emma ran to her uncle's room. She banged on the door repeatedly until his answered, then burst right in. He was still in bed.  
  
"Something very, very strange is going on. And I think I'm the only one it's happening to."  
  
********************  
  
After Charles got dressed, he summoned Kitty, Jean, Scott, Kurt, Evan and Logan to the Kitchen. The other mutants were outside, none of them passing up the chance to play in the snow.  
  
Emma held her cup of coffee tightly between her hands.  
  
"So I died?" Jean looked a little perturbed.  
  
Emma nodded. "At least once. At first it was hard for me to remember what had happened, so some of it's fuzzy."  
  
"But how could this happen? And why Emma?" Scott asked the Professor.  
  
"I'm not quite sure. I've never heard of anything like this before."  
  
There was a short silence. Suddenly a large snowball collided with the window, thankfully not breaking it.  
  
Emma looked at her watch. "Oh, we have to go!"  
  
"Go where?"  
  
Emma looked at Kitty. "Buchanan County. The mine collapse."  
  
"Yes, but I think perhaps you should say." Charles turned to the others. Go and get ready."  
  
Emma was about to protest, but she looked at Jean. Her stomach was solid with heavy guilt. "Yeah. Maybe you're right."  
  
************  
  
They didn't get back until late. Emma was relieved to find that they'd all survived. But they weren't in good spirits. Four of the miners trapped inside had been lost in the second collapse.  
  
**************************  
  
5:00 AM  
  
Emma woke, for no apparent reason. She squinted at her alarm clock, groaned and went back to sleep. 


	7. In which Emma plots

6:03 AM  
  
She woke again and screamed. "No!" Then she took a deep breath. "Okay, calm down. It could be tomorrow."  
  
She got up and went to the window. Fresh snow. She turned on the radio.  
  
*Snow Day.*  
  
She sat down on her bed. "Damn."  
  
****************  
  
They were in the kitchen.  
  
Emma held her cup of coffee tightly between her hands.  
  
"So I died?" Jean looked a little perturbed.  
  
Emma nodded. "At least once. It's getting easier for me to remember things, but the first few times are really fuzzy, and I'm getting really sick of the same conversations."  
  
"But how could this happen? And why Emma?" Scott asked the Professor.  
  
"I'm not quite sure. I've never heard of anything like this before."  
  
There was a short silence. Suddenly a large snowball collided with the window, thankfully not breaking it.  
  
Emma looked at her watch. "You guys have to go."  
  
"Go where?"  
  
Emma looked at Kitty. "Buchanan County. The mine collapse."  
  
"Aren't you coming?"  
  
Emma shook her head at Kurt. "Nope. I'm going back to bed."  
  
Which is exactly what she did.  
  
****************  
  
5:00 AM  
  
Emma woke, for no apparent reason. She squinted at her alarm clock and sat up. "Not again!" She got up and looked outside. The snow was still falling, and she couldn't see very well. But she saw enough.  
  
******************  
  
Again they were in the kitchen.  
  
Emma refused the offer of coffee.  
  
"So I died?" Jean looked a little perturbed.  
  
Emma nodded. "Once at least. Blah, blah, remembering easier, blah, blah, first time was fuzzy... I'm going insane..."  
  
Scott opened his mouth to speak but Emma forestalled him. "How could this happen, why's it happening to me. Charles doesn't know. In fact, he's never heard of anything like this before." Emma sighed and closed her eyes.  
  
They stared at her. Emma opened her eyes again and looked at her watch. "And in exactly twenty - no, eighteen - seconds a snowball is going to hit that window."  
  
There was silence. Emma counted the seconds down. "Five, four, three, two, one..."  
  
Suddenly a large snowball collided with the window.  
  
"And now we have to go.  
  
"Go where?"  
  
Emma looked at Kitty. "Buchanan County. The mine collapse. And Charlie, don't tell me not to go, because that leads nowhere."  
  
Her Uncle frowned at her. "Well then, go by all means. But don't call me that."  
  
Emma rubbed his head. "Don't worry, you won't remember it tomorrow."  
  
*****************  
  
The trip to Virginia was very, very quiet. Emma was replaying the entry into the mine in her head. There had to be something she could do, something she'd missed. There had to be a way to make it so that no one died.  
  
"Scott." Emma unbuckled herself and walked up to the front seat where he was sitting. He looked at her.  
  
She pointed to the plans he was holding. "Can I borrow those for a second? Thanks." Emma took them and turned around. As she did, the plane lurched a little and she was thrown to the left. She grabbed for the nearest handhold to stop herself falling any farther. It happened to be Logan's shoulder.  
  
She quickly let go, quickly making for her seat, but not before she heard Logan mutter something about turbulence.  
  
Sitting back down, Emma took a deep breath and tried to ignore the tingling in her hand. She looked at the papers. The mine they would enter, had entered many times wasn't a coal mine. It was an iron ore mine. Iron ore. Emma tried to remember. She'd done geology at school, and they'd probably covered the production of iron, but that was a long time ago. She looked at Kitty who sat to her right.  
  
"Hey. How do you make iron?"  
  
"What? Iron?" Kitty's brow creased.  
  
"Yeah, you're at school. Don't they teach you this stuff?"  
  
"Well, uh... yeah, but -" Kitty was interrupted by a slight chuckle from behind her.  
  
"You need a lot of heat and charcoal." They both stared at Jean. "What? You did ask."  
  
Emma shook her head and was silent for a moment. "So I need charcoal." 


	8. In which the chapter is short, but provi...

Emma clapped her hand to her forehead and cursed. //You'd think after doing this so many times, I'd learn.// She wiped the blood off on her suit and started toward the hole. Then she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She stopped. A wall brace. Metal. She looked at the roof. There were more, crisscrossing the ceiling.  
  
"Then again, maybe I won't need the charcoal."  
  
"Emma?" Scott, bent partially under the weight of one of the trapped men snapped her out of her thoughts.  
  
She looked at him. "Go. Go quickly. I have an idea." Emma turned to Jean. "Jean, if I can heat the metal wall braces enough, can you manipulate the motel metal?"  
  
The girl's face was tense with the concentration she was expending on keeping the ceiling up. "Uh, I don't know..."  
  
The ground shook and Emma cursed. "No, no, it's too soon!" Watching the beams, Emma saw them start to cave. Instantly she raised her hands, unleashing her power. The air was filled with energy, and the tunnel lit up with blue light. The electricity heated the metal to white hot in a matter of moments and it sealed back together. She stopped to let it cool.  
  
Logan and Evan made their way past her, taking the last of the miners. Emma grabbed Jean's arm and pulled her towards the exit.  
  
They were almost there, three meters away from the entrance when Emma heard the screech of metal. She wondered briefly why she hadn't heard it any time before, before she realised that each time she'd done it, she'd been out by now. Emma pushed Jean toward the exit, raising her hands to a cracked beam ahead of her. Rock dust and dirt was falling from the roof as the rock around her shook, sticking on her skin and in her hair. Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Jean get into the light.  
  
She stemmed the flow of her power and started toward the exit. She got barely two steps before a large rock fell in front of her. Startled, Emma lost her balance. As more debris pelted down, she was knocked to the ground.  
  
She struggled to rise, dimly aware of noise that sounded familiar. But the madness around her was overwhelming. The next things she knew, something heavy hit her and she was flying back. She hit the wall of the tunnel, pinned by something and lost consciousness. 


	9. In which there is much sadness!

Emma woke a little later. Her head hurt and she couldn't breathe properly. Something was pressing down on her. She opened her eyes, trying to blink dust out of them. She tried to raise her hands to clear them, but they were pinned tight against her chest.  
  
It was dark. Emma couldn't see what pinned her, but it didn't feel like a rock. Something was niggling at the back of her mind. Something she'd heard... She was confused and disorientated. She flexed her spine and was relieved to feel a little movement. She kept writhing until she managed to her an arm free. She flexed her fingers. They felt sticky, like they were covered with jam.  
  
She released a small flow of electricity, small sparks that faded into nothing soon after they left her hand.  
  
And she screamed.  
  
Her eyes were level with his. But they weren't how she remembered. They were duller, glossier. Unfocused. Dead.  
  
Frantically, Emma tried to pull free, but she was pinned tight under Logan. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. Her chest was heaving. She could see the piece of metal that had speared... She couldn't even think it.  
  
It was wedged between two stones on the opposite wall. Emma raised her free hand and increased the flow. The spot she'd concentrated her ability on glowed and began to separate from the rest of the bar. Soon clattered to the ground, and Emma could get free.  
  
As soon as she did, she crawled to the opposite wall, as far away as she could get from it. Her skin felt sticky underneath her suit and she knew what it was. Blood.  
  
She didn't understand how it had happened. With his healing factor, he should have...  
  
****************  
  
She was hugging her knees to her chest and staring into space when Kitty phased through the rocks, complete with a torch. She saw Emma first. "Emma! Are you all right? Like, we thought you were dead. Where's -" Emma closed her eyes and pointed to Logan.  
  
For the first time ever, Kitty had nothing to say.  
  
*****************  
  
Kurt came to get the body, whereas Emma went out with Kitty. Back at the institute, Emma didn't say a word, merely making straight for the shower. She scrubbed the blood of her skin, and kept scrubbing until she hurt all over. Somehow the pain helped.  
  
The rest of it was a blur. McCoy said that the brace had completely destroyed Logan's heart and lungs, so he'd died before his body had time to repair the damage.  
  
Emma went to bed early, too tired to even lock her door. She curled into a ball on her bed and raised a hand to weld it shut. She didn't want to see anyone.  
  
Logan had died to save her. If he hadn't, she would be dead. And before he'd died, he'd screamed out to her. His last word was her name.  
  
Then the tears came. 


	10. In which it ends

5:00 AM  
  
Emma sat straight up in bed. "Five am." She touched her forehead and found it uninjured.  
  
"No cut."  
  
She jumped up and left her room, clad in the track pants and a singlet top which comprised her pajamas. Logan's room was in the other wing of the house with the boys. She walked quickly.  
  
She didn't knock, slipping inside almost soundlessly. Logan quickly woke. "Who's there?"  
  
Emma didn't say anything. She suddenly couldn't think of anything *to* say. Familiar fear gripped her throat.  
  
"Emma? What is it?" She couldn't see his face.  
  
A tear slipped down her cheek. "You... You died for me."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
She took a few steps closer. //Of course he doesn't know what I'm talking about... It hasn't happened yet.// "You would die for me." More tears followed the first, and her voice was hoarse.  
  
"Yes." His was soft.  
  
Emma sniffed and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Why?"  
  
"I don't know. I'm better with you. I don't remember what it was like without you."  
  
Emma slowly approached the bed and carefully sat down. She was closer to Logan now that she had been in months. He was on the other side of the bed, and she could sense his presence more than see it.  
  
"I'm... I'm sorry. But I am scared."  
  
"Emma, I -"  
  
"Wait, let me finish." She sniffed again and took a deep breath. "I'm scared. I'm confused. But I love you, and you would *die* for me, and that's something I can't let go."  
  
Emma carefully lifted the covers and slid beneath them, lying down on her side to face him. After a moment, Logan did the same.  
  
He held out his hand. Emma looked at it for a moment and then put hers in his.  
  
"I need time."  
  
He nodded.  
  
******************  
  
Storm and the young mutants waited in the Danger Room. Logan was fifteen minutes late. This worried her a little. Logan was *never* late.  
  
Now that she thought about it, Ororo noticed that Emma was missing as well. She sternly (and somewhat optimistically) warned the teenagers to wait and not mess with anything while she went upstairs. She checked Emma's room first, and found it empty.  
  
Logan's door was slightly ajar, and she nudged it open. Emma and Logan was asleep, her hand held between his. She smiled and shut the door.  
  
She sighed as she went back down to the lower levels. "I suppose this means I'll be driving them to school today. I wish it was a Snow Day."  
Finis.  
Yes, that is the end. As for a next one... That (as always) depends on if you guys want another, and there are a few things that are left loose from this and the other fics. I just can't really think of a good storyline to tie them together yet. =] Any suggestions are VERY welcome. 


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